We are at the dawn of a historic moment in the history of the United States. Tomorrow, thousands of people will converge on the town of Jena, LA. to let the people there, as well as the entire nation, know that racist standards of justice, Jim Crow laws, will no longer be tolerated. Those of us that can’t make it to Jena will be holding vigils and meetings in our own towns, wearing black or green, and making phone calls to members of the LA. legislature. In other words…
It’s on.
I remember a conversation about a year ago about whether or not bloggers could really make any sort of difference in the world (sorry, I don’t remember the specifics or who was involved). I think that this is an instance of how bloggers, online social networks, and the internet in general can be a force for change. So yes, bloggers can make a difference, especially when they join together toward a common goal.
From an article by Howard Witt at the Chicago Tribune:
JENA, La. – There is no single leader. There is no agreed schedule. Organizers aren’t even certain where everyone is supposed to gather, let alone use the restroom. The only thing that is known for sure is that thousands of protesters are boarding buses at churches, colleges and community centers across the country this week, headed for this tiny dot on the map of central Louisiana.
What could turn out to be one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in years is set to take place here Thursday, when Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, popular black radio talk show hosts and other celebrities converge in Jena to protest what they regard as unequal treatment of African-Americans in this racially fractured Deep South town.
Yet this will be a civil rights protest literally conjured out of the ether of cyberspace, of a type that has never happened before in America—a collective national mass action grown from a grassroots word-of-mouth movement spread via Internet blogs, e-mails, message boards and talk radio.
Tomorrow we shall be heard. We shall be seen. We may, finally, start to overcome.
Please see my Jena Six tag for ways that you can participate in the day of action tomorrow.
My little sister and her roommate will be there, with the busses from Spelman. All by itself, that tells me this is something. My little sister is one of the most apolitical people I know… a sweet girl who spends a lot of time acting dumber than she really is, and pretending not to care about the world… and even she is going to be there.
I just wish I could be…
It’s awesome what can be done both with the net and with non-mainstream media. A lot of the people signing the petition don’t even read blogs, they heard about these things by email. There has to be a way to use this energy to provide publicity for more cases that only local media (if that) cares about.